Monday, February 9, 2009

Rice Wraps ?

This week end I had one of those ah hah moments. My little brain figured out how to do something. Well not entirely, but it was an adventure non the less.

We eat out for Chinese food quite a bit in this family. How they prepare some of the Dim Sum delicacies is waaaaay beyond me, but then I got to thinking. Spring rolls. How hard could they be?

I had in my refrigerator a bowl of freshly cut veggies for dipping. (A good healthy snack to have on hand when you have the munchies.)

I chopped some up with my Pampered Chef chopper and added a can of drained tuna.

Back to my pantry where I brought out these rice wrap "wafers". I don't know what you call them but I remember them being inexpensive and interesting when I purchased them.

I asked my Genius son to help me in the prep work. Here he is rolling them (like a steering wheel) in a bowl of warm water to soften. I don't have the link here but on youtube there is a short video of some guy doing the exact thing. I think that it was entitled "Vietnamese Spring Roll".

He shook the excess water off of each one and laid it on a cutting board for the next step. I filled each with a generous couple tablespoons of filling. Folded the bottom up, and flattened it down a bit. Flip one side in, then the other, and then tightly rolled from the bottom up ... like you were putting away a sleeping bag :o)

Place each rolled wrap on a platter until you have completed them all. While you continue with the rest, the wraps dry a bit and they sort of stick together so you might want to lay them on waxed paper and place so that they are not touching each other.

While this was happening, I had been heating some oil in a deep sauce pan ... I don't own a deep fryer. Popped them in about 4 at a time to bubble and sizzle and brown. This is the step that I don't quite understand. They didn't really brown like the ones I get at the restaurant. I don't know if it was the oil I used, the temperature or possibly that rice doesn't brown.

But I fished them out, let them drain on a cooling rake over paper towel and my family ate them all up with some plum sauce.

It's good for the brain to learn and do new things.

Cooking is a great brain exercise!

For next time I think that I will use shrimp, green onions, sprouts and shredded carrot for a filling. Also I may try baking them in the oven. Near the end the oil was dangerously popping and exploding all over the kitchen ... Yikes.

2 comments:

If you are trying to make egg rolls -- my brothers wife was of Korean desent and she worked at a Chinese restaurant and made the egg rolls with using thickness of the rice paper and had the oil with a thermometer in it to keep an eye on the heat. The rice paper was not put in water it was just delicately separated and used-- yes you did excellent job rolling them!! She possibly used phylo (might be spelling it wrong) dough. You have the right idea just do not soak in water. :O) Karyl(Carol)PS. maybe No Place Like Home -- Kelli's Seasonal Delights might have better help?

Not to interfere and God knows I'm not a cook, but I do make these occasionally at home and eat them frequently in Vietnamese Restaurants. You just wrap your veggies, seafood, etc. inside, rollup, then dip in soy sauce, hoisin sauce, hot sauce, peanut sauce or whatever you like. No cooking involved. Sounds strange, but very yummy. They are not like traditional Chinese egg rolls. Enjoy!

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